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WAN routing really counts when it's software defined...

When you’re struggling to get somewhere on time and you have encountered unexpected congestion on the route you’ve always taken, frustration builds. You know full well that consulting the road atlas would have achieved nothing in terms of your visibility of the prevailing traffic conditions: similarly, your Sat Nav might have told you about the traffic congestion you are now caught in, but possibly far too late for you to reroute. But what if you could add in multiple data sources such as roadside cameras, police reports, and social media updates? This would without doubt improve the real-time traffic picture throughout the course of your journey and in turn, it could aid your decision making.

There is an analogy here with the data of European companies and networks. IT departments are starting to think about their wide area network (WAN) strategies

With the forecast growth of data and a diversity of

available networks, business needs a smarter way to

optimise their networks. Marc Sollars, CTO at Teneo

explains the route.

Best Route forward

3232 SOFTWARE DEFINED WAN

www.networkseuropemagazine.com

SOFTWARE DEFINED WAN 33

to ensure that application performance is based on the quality of the network route that is taken. Currently IT teams have two options. They are reliant on either road-atlas network path selection or intelligent Sat Nav style SD-WAN, and it’s not the ultimate choice because both currently have their limitations. However, there is good news because as the SD-WAN market grows, it changes, and we are about to get the best of both worlds.

Untested and uncertainSo much for the theory, but barriers remain in place. Despite Gartner estimating that 30 per cent of firms will use SD-WAN by 2019, the underlying capabilities are not fully defined and there’s no one product that meets every organisation’s needs. Also, European organisations don’t habitually monitor the WAN to fully understand their application performance needs and so we return to the car driver, dependent on the road atlas or the Sat Nav…

Atlas or intelligent Sat Nav?Sticking with the analogy, this is how the options look today. In the road atlas SD-WAN approach, organisations set up a defined traffic path. They have a clear approach, but just like the road atlas scenario there is no awareness of temporary traffic jams, accidents, and roadworks.

The intelligent Sat Nav scenario does offer data insights to provide better service capabilities for real-time applications and it adds value from a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network. Here traffic is inspected on a packet-by-packet basis, multiple times per second, and this establishes a much better understanding of the network which can facilitate automatic traffic routing decisions.

While there is this choice, neither approach currently reduces any on site infrastructure requirements. So to decide which SD-WAN approach fits best, firms need to have insights into both their current network performance as well as their future network needs.

There is hope though, because the ability to remove branch infrastructure and achieve zero-touch deployments will come from SD-WAN solutions with centrally-managed WAN edge devices placed in remote or branch offices. Here they will establish logical connections with other branch edge devices across the physical WAN which is much like real-time, community-based traffic and navigation apps directing car drivers. These connections provide real-time monitoring data as well as intelligent and secure paths across multiple WAN connections and carriers, such as hybrid Internet and MPLS architectures.

EnablementThe breakthrough lies in firms changing their culture of operating static networks and embracing a more intelligent approach. Just as our driver needs smarter driving apps, so a network manager needs to identify key SD-WAN characteristics in order to define the correct traffic route for their company’s needs, and this should include the following points:

SD-WAN ready thinking: In new SD-WAN thinking, networks identify the right route at the right time for the application: higher priority, sensitive traffic, can be sent over private links with lower priority items using the public

Internet. Bandwidth is allotted intelligently, according to actual data loads. For example, the UKs emergency services mobile response units can struggle to gain 3G or 4G coverage to communicate with headquarters, while at the same time utilising costly satellite connections for back-up. They have started to use adaptive networking which helps them to find the fastest route across all available network connections, packet by packet, and this can boost bandwidth.

Existing capabilities: WAN optimisation technologies also facilitate de-duplication and that dispenses with multiple instances of data on the network, ensuring that it is stored in just one place. Another benchmark is data caching of critical assets on hosted servers, lifting bandwidth constraints and enabling users to download files faster. WAN optimisation can be coupled with SD-WAN techniques for maximum efficiency.

Accelerating applications: Smart IT teams already use compression and de-duplication to boost application performance, but they won’t have true optimisation without a fuller understanding of protocols, combined with reduced latency. SD-WAN can be used to prioritise protocols such as voice and video, traditionally applications that are not easy to optimise.

A pharma firm plagued by variable bandwidth worldwide, decided to implement SD-WAN to route WAN data more intelligently and it resulted in network resilience and clean data. There were no dropped packets for any VoIP/video apps, jitter was removed and a 25 per cent network efficiency gain was secured.

Application performance management (APM): Better visibility of applications with SD-WAN is vital to giving end users a better service. APM helps to detect and resolve application performance issues before they escalate or affect stakeholders. A global law firm eradicated keyboard stroke ghosting in their virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution running over the WAN, as well as latency in video and case management applications, by implementing intelligent quality of path features. It achieved effective thin client computing worldwide, better video calls, collaborations and case billing.

Consolidation of assetsSD-WAN can also enable consolidation of assets. By minimising their remote office hardware footprint, companies can not only save on their running costs, but they will also be able to move towards hyper-converged infrastructures.

Understandably, some organisations want to wait. But to boost long-term profitability, companies need deeper knowledge of what they currently have. Some integrators have recognised this gap, equipping customers with easy-to-use monitoring tools and simplifying first-stage SD-WAN benchmarking policies.

SD-WAN promises ground-breaking network optimisation. But like an old-school motorist delaying their use of smart driving apps, companies won’t deploy these technologies meaningfully until they start actively assessing their networks and identifying some desired performance criteria. From here they can plan and manage their best route to success. n

www.networkseuropemagazine.com

WAN routing really counts when it's software defined...

When you’re struggling to get somewhere on time and you have encountered unexpected congestion on the route you’ve always taken, frustration builds. You know full well that consulting the road atlas would have achieved nothing in terms of your visibility of the prevailing traffic conditions: similarly, your Sat Nav might have told you about the traffic congestion you are now caught in, but possibly far too late for you to reroute. But what if you could add in multiple data sources such as roadside cameras, police reports, and social media updates? This would without doubt improve the real-time traffic picture throughout the course of your journey and in turn, it could aid your decision making.

There is an analogy here with the data of European companies and networks. IT departments are starting to think about their wide area network (WAN) strategies

With the forecast growth of data and a diversity of

available networks, business needs a smarter way to

optimise their networks. Marc Sollars, CTO at Teneo

explains the route.

Best Route forward

3232 SOFTWARE DEFINED WAN

www.networkseuropemagazine.com

SOFTWARE DEFINED WAN 33

to ensure that application performance is based on the quality of the network route that is taken. Currently IT teams have two options. They are reliant on either road-atlas network path selection or intelligent Sat Nav style SD-WAN, and it’s not the ultimate choice because both currently have their limitations. However, there is good news because as the SD-WAN market grows, it changes, and we are about to get the best of both worlds.

Untested and uncertainSo much for the theory, but barriers remain in place. Despite Gartner estimating that 30 per cent of firms will use SD-WAN by 2019, the underlying capabilities are not fully defined and there’s no one product that meets every organisation’s needs. Also, European organisations don’t habitually monitor the WAN to fully understand their application performance needs and so we return to the car driver, dependent on the road atlas or the Sat Nav…

Atlas or intelligent Sat Nav?Sticking with the analogy, this is how the options look today. In the road atlas SD-WAN approach, organisations set up a defined traffic path. They have a clear approach, but just like the road atlas scenario there is no awareness of temporary traffic jams, accidents, and roadworks.

The intelligent Sat Nav scenario does offer data insights to provide better service capabilities for real-time applications and it adds value from a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network. Here traffic is inspected on a packet-by-packet basis, multiple times per second, and this establishes a much better understanding of the network which can facilitate automatic traffic routing decisions.

While there is this choice, neither approach currently reduces any on site infrastructure requirements. So to decide which SD-WAN approach fits best, firms need to have insights into both their current network performance as well as their future network needs.

There is hope though, because the ability to remove branch infrastructure and achieve zero-touch deployments will come from SD-WAN solutions with centrally-managed WAN edge devices placed in remote or branch offices. Here they will establish logical connections with other branch edge devices across the physical WAN which is much like real-time, community-based traffic and navigation apps directing car drivers. These connections provide real-time monitoring data as well as intelligent and secure paths across multiple WAN connections and carriers, such as hybrid Internet and MPLS architectures.

EnablementThe breakthrough lies in firms changing their culture of operating static networks and embracing a more intelligent approach. Just as our driver needs smarter driving apps, so a network manager needs to identify key SD-WAN characteristics in order to define the correct traffic route for their company’s needs, and this should include the following points:

SD-WAN ready thinking: In new SD-WAN thinking, networks identify the right route at the right time for the application: higher priority, sensitive traffic, can be sent over private links with lower priority items using the public

Internet. Bandwidth is allotted intelligently, according to actual data loads. For example, the UKs emergency services mobile response units can struggle to gain 3G or 4G coverage to communicate with headquarters, while at the same time utilising costly satellite connections for back-up. They have started to use adaptive networking which helps them to find the fastest route across all available network connections, packet by packet, and this can boost bandwidth.

Existing capabilities: WAN optimisation technologies also facilitate de-duplication and that dispenses with multiple instances of data on the network, ensuring that it is stored in just one place. Another benchmark is data caching of critical assets on hosted servers, lifting bandwidth constraints and enabling users to download files faster. WAN optimisation can be coupled with SD-WAN techniques for maximum efficiency.

Accelerating applications: Smart IT teams already use compression and de-duplication to boost application performance, but they won’t have true optimisation without a fuller understanding of protocols, combined with reduced latency. SD-WAN can be used to prioritise protocols such as voice and video, traditionally applications that are not easy to optimise.

A pharma firm plagued by variable bandwidth worldwide, decided to implement SD-WAN to route WAN data more intelligently and it resulted in network resilience and clean data. There were no dropped packets for any VoIP/video apps, jitter was removed and a 25 per cent network efficiency gain was secured.

Application performance management (APM): Better visibility of applications with SD-WAN is vital to giving end users a better service. APM helps to detect and resolve application performance issues before they escalate or affect stakeholders. A global law firm eradicated keyboard stroke ghosting in their virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution running over the WAN, as well as latency in video and case management applications, by implementing intelligent quality of path features. It achieved effective thin client computing worldwide, better video calls, collaborations and case billing.

Consolidation of assetsSD-WAN can also enable consolidation of assets. By minimising their remote office hardware footprint, companies can not only save on their running costs, but they will also be able to move towards hyper-converged infrastructures.

Understandably, some organisations want to wait. But to boost long-term profitability, companies need deeper knowledge of what they currently have. Some integrators have recognised this gap, equipping customers with easy-to-use monitoring tools and simplifying first-stage SD-WAN benchmarking policies.

SD-WAN promises ground-breaking network optimisation. But like an old-school motorist delaying their use of smart driving apps, companies won’t deploy these technologies meaningfully until they start actively assessing their networks and identifying some desired performance criteria. From here they can plan and manage their best route to success. n